Shalimar Millésime Iris
Eau de Parfum, Guerlain (2023)

It is lovely and beautiful gourmand perfume, but the Shalimar DNA is rather weak, and so the iris note. It takes rather a bit of sprays to get more of a Shalimar DNA.

Similar to Millesime Tonka, Millesime Iris, is a departure from the familiar notes of Shalimar that we accustomed to - the stinky bergamot opening, powdery notes, incense, and synthetic vanillan. The opening does have a light refreshing bergamot that fades quickly into a orris root floral. The caramel soon follows dominating the scent for its duration. There's definitely some vanilla which contributes to the sweetness in the drydown. This one is definitely a gourmand scent easily. I think the name Millesime Iris is rather misleading for the scent. In fact, the whole concept of the Shalimar Millesime flankers doesn't make much sense. There's little that these flankers have with the iconic classic. A pleasing scent overall, although it doesn't jump out to me as anything special but it's nice.

Deep down I knew that the caramel note in this fragrance wouldn't be for me. However, I bit because I love original Shalimar and adore iris. This has an ample amount of the Shalimar DNA, including bergamot (rather shrill in the first five to ten minutes) as well as musk. The iris note is gorgeous, I must say. Then the caramel basically t-bones it. It's not that the caramel is cloying, it's just that I want to lean into that glorious iris and get rudely interrupted. Basically, what you have here is a higher-quality Prada Candy.